The Fattest Man in Britain

I saw this production after reading the synopsis, and seeing familiar names in the cast, I was expecting a riveting and well written comedy, but apart from a couple of lines, I didn't find it funny.

They basically made comedy from bad language and abuse, unfunny stereotyping, and the whole concept wasn't a particularly great one.

So if you think that abuse towards overweight people is funny and like the occasional bit of bad language and toilet humour, it might be up your street. But this wasn't a film which I particularly liked.

The Fattest Man in Britain(2009) (YouTube, full film ) It centres on the life of Georgie Godwin (Timothy Spall) , housebound for 23 years Georgie is the fattest man in Britain, and is loosely based on a real life fatty. Featuring lots of TV faces, namely Bobby Ball and written by Caroline Ahearne. It does plod the same path as The Royal Family in that the sentimentality does overwhelm what could have been a very dark story, playing it for laughs when the reality could and I presume would have been far too glum. It being comedic drama this sort of programme would no longer be made, Channel 5 and the like would now have a reality TV series for us to gawp at the fatties (I'm paraphrasing any potential sales pitch) Its worth a watch, but only to see how our collective taste have changed and not necessarily for the better. A timepiece. 4/10.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

In a day and age where fame comes to the talentless quite easily, there are people getting noticed all the time for their comically over-sized bodies who are always appearing in the papers for being a sideshow or not being able to work and claiming benefits...So being such a current affairs matter, the renowned Timothy Spall has donned a super-size fat suit to play one such spectacle, Georgie Godwin, who we learn through-out the course of this TV film has become super-morbidly obese not entirely through his own fault, and has survived through years of being a sideshow and cash cow to his so-called best mate Morris (Bobby Ball) only for a new friendship with a young girl to save his salvation again.

The lighting is a little too grey and bleak for what was meant to be such light entertainment, not to mention the script throwing up some heavy content and strong language knocking out the family market. But at it's heart it's still a good natured, gentle piece that strikes just the right balance between hilarious and heart warming. Ball is a surprise return after being away for so long, and even more surprising (and relevant) is the appearance of real life Birmingham fat man Barry Austin, as Georgie's rival in a local 'super fat' contest. ***

Reliable, solid performance as usual from Timothy Spall. As one who looks forward to uplifting dramas especially during these current times of economic recession, I found the last 2 minutes of what was billed as a comedy drama very uplifting – particularly after sitting through 2 hours of this. A word of congratulations must go to Jeff Pope and Caroline Aherne who seemed to have managed with ease to release Bobby Ball from his Christian beliefs by prolonged use of his foul language - quite a contrast from an earlier appearance he made on 'Songs of Praise.' It was billed as a comedy drama. I missed the comedy part. Is this what we really want on weekend prime time television in the UK?

The story evolves around the true story of heavyweight man Jack Taylor. A miracle man's story of someone who would eat enough for a medium sized family daily; he also used his habits to create fame involving using his home as a seeing gallery for tourists and locals wanting to pay for his time. The movie epitomizes the real life story with its own cast making a adaptation by changing the names of the people and locations and background story. Unfortunately the real life character dies of a heart attack one night alone in his home, and this story is a homage to his death as one of the largest person's in history, also it pays respect to his own life as a well loved individual in his own society. The film was a TV movie for ITV UK, and made a very good first impression to the home audience.